Manufacturing Facility Underway, 1st Production Aircraft to Begin Soon

Joby has picked itself up and dusted off, restarting flight testing following the crash of an uncrewed test aircraft last month. 

Joby has announced that the second preproduction prototype aircraft has resumed flight testing at the company's first manufacturing facility in Marina, California. The company's flight testing was paused following the crash of their first prototype while undergoing uncrewed evaluation, the cause of which remains under investigation by the NTSB, the FAA, and the company's review board. The second aircraft was fortuitously built in late 2021 in the hopes that it could further accelerate the pace of testing and certification. Entering service in January, it has managed to rack up almost 40 flights, according to Joby systems head Didier Papadopoulos. 

“We’re excited to be back in the air with our second pre-production prototype aircraft, building on the tremendous flight test achievements our team has made to date. Last year alone, we flew more than 5,300 miles, generating 65 terabytes of flight test data and demonstrating an endurance of 154.6 miles on a single charge.”

The company told investors that despite the incident, things are looking up across the board. They remain about 4/5ths of the way through their Part 135 certification, saying "We continue to make excellent progress on finalizing our means of compliance and have submitted our first area-specific certification plan." Their production facility remains under construction, with an eventual 125,000 square feet of space for the line. They believe the first production aircraft will be started in the near future. 

FMI: www.jobyaviation.com